Ninth Gate/Lovecraftian for sure. Maybe a little Hellraiser and Pans Labyrinth. It might sound strange but certain elements of What Dreams May Come, Inception, and Eyes Wide Shut too. I get the Indiana Jones thing too, a certain adventurous/exploring element. I do think you have to do something to keep it from being a straight horror film or "lighten it up" to make it accessible. But any humor needs to be subtle and more from circumstance than snarkiness or one liners.
I agree that the standard Marvel formula is not going to do Strange justice.

you need something to recreate the sense of awe of especially the early Ditko comics. Strange was always action/adventure too, just like any other Lee creation, it just had the psychedelic Ditko touch and was rooted in 50ies horror comics (at first) and Lovecraftian elements (very soon after). Doesn't make it less 'Marvel style' it just changes the setting a little bit.

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It wasn't Marvel Studios that made me a Marvel Zombie, it was every other movie studio failing at making superhero movies as good as them! ------------------------------

Its occult stuff, wherein he flies around in psychodelic other dimensions getting into energy blast duels with cosmic beings. "Fantasy" fits the descriptor better than anything else. Dr Strange should *not* be low key.

Even though i'm not a big fan of the movie in particular, The Sorcerers Apprentice and the way they depicted certain aspects and uses of Magick would work well in DS I think.

I agree. While not a great movie, The Sorcerers Apprentice did manage to portray the use of magic and spells in a favorable way. I think if Dr. Strange can build on that while delivering a more dramatic story, we'd have a good basis for a film.

Mainly how it was visually done and came off on screen. It looked awesome, had variety (Dragons, portals, etc). The way magic was depicted was really well done. DS needs to be a little more arcane imo (as in rooted in ritual, foci, glyphs, etc) but would otherwise look great.

Doctor Strange was confirmed as part of Phase 3 by Kevin Feige himself.

Quote:

Could the oft-rumored "Doctor Strange" be a part of those plans?

"'Doctor Strange,' which I've been talking about for years, is definitely one of them," he confirmed. "He's a great, original character, and he checks the box off this criteria that I have: he's totally different from anything else we have, just like 'Guardians of the Galaxy.' He's totally different from anything we've done before, as is 'Ant-Man,' which keeps us excited."

As far as the style of Doctor Strange is concerned, what I want to see is a Ditkoesque panoply encompassing all of the bizarre, unique character designs and dizzying landscapes Steve Ditko created in the original Strange Tales run of Doctor Strange. The film needs to have that kind of disorienting feel, wherein the weird and the malformed seem commonplace. It should have a dark yet colorful palette, with the vibrant hues of the rest of the MCU subdued. Red becomes crimson, blue becomes midnight. Also, all of the odd creatures like Nightmare, Dormammu, the Unspeakable Umar and the Living Tribunal should be lurking at the edges, feared and alluded to even if not actually seen.

This has me more excited than anything. Feige wants to attempt to make different types of movies, depending on who the character is. Not the same tried and true, summer action movie. And it is very clear that the style of movie they make reflects the character, he has already proved that with his choice of directors.

GdT would probably make an amazing Dr. Strange movie. If it isn't him, I hope someone similar. Lovecraftian is a good way to put it. I want a Space/Fantasy/Horror epic.

This has me more excited than anything. Feige wants to attempt to make different types of movies, depending on who the character is. Not the same tried and true, summer action movie. And it is very clear that the style of movie they make reflects the character, he has already proved that with his choice of directors.

GdT would probably make an amazing Dr. Strange movie. If it isn't him, I hope someone similar. Lovecraftian is a good way to put it. I want a Space/Fantasy/Horror epic.

Marvel has a history of going with directors who are either unproven, unconventional or not "safe" picks. (Some of that is because up til now established directors have passed on Marvel's projects.) GdT would be a very conventional pick for Doctor Strange, oddly enough, even if he weren't already attached to a "dark and mystical" Justice League spinoff.

Marvel might try to lure Tarsem Singh, a director of visually interesting but less than successful films like The Cell and The Fall. Singh's style would fit well with Strange, IMO. With the close and careful supervision that Feige and his team give to every film, Singh's shortcomings as a storyteller could be curtailed while his vivid use of imagery is exploited.

Singh would be a great pick as long as the script is right. Dude's visuals are stunning but he picks some bad scripts

The bad scripts are where Marvel comes in. Feige and his crew can develop the script and set the parameters for the franchise, as well as provide Singh with all that awesome Ditko artwork for inspiration. So long as they hire decent writers, things should go well. (The guys who wrote the Conan reboot are not decent writers.)